Christchurch’s new covered stadium: How to be one of 20 lucky people to get a peek inside

Te Kaha Christchurch Multi-Use Arena, the new indoor stadium. Photo / Supplied

• Te Kaha Stadium will open to selected public members during the Open Christchurch festival.
• The festival, featuring fifty-one buildings, runs from May 2-4 with activities and tours.
• Limited tickets for Te Kaha will be allocated via ballot due to high demand.

Te Kaha aka One New Zealand Stadium is opening its doors to specially selected members of the public, ahead of its official opening in April next year.

The opening up of Christchurch’s new covered stadium is part of the Open Christchurch festival, an annual event celebrating the city’s diverse range of architecture.

Fifty-one buildings will be showcased from May 2-4, also including The Court Theatre’s new site, the city’s freshly opened Youth Hub, and the Christ Church Cathedral.

Te Pūtahi director Jessica Halliday said Open Christchurch is a “simple invitation” to Cantabrians to “come and explore”.

It is the festival’s largest programme yet, with more than 40 coinciding activities planned over the weekend also.

Halliday said it was “thrilling” to offer special access to Te Kaha Stadium, which is a “massive new landmark for the city”.

She said attendees will get to learn first-hand about the design and the architecture of Te Kaha, and go behind the scenes of the engineering and construction process.

Strong demand for the tickets is anticipated, with “around 20 places” available.

“It is really tiny, so the odds are going to be low.”

She said that is the maximum number of tickets the event could secure, which she finds “a bit daunting” given the region’s population – and how much public interest there is.

It means for the first time in the festival’s five-year history, it will run a ballot for building access tickets.

Stadium project director, Kent Summerfield said he is looking forward to showcasing what is happening behind the fence with the Open Christchurch group.

He believed it will be “rewarding and motivating” for teams involved in the project, to see the public’s excitement and interest.

Summerfield said the limited spots stemmed from a challenge of balancing the strong public interest in Te Kaha’s construction, with the need to keep site disruption to a minimum.

“We knew there would be big interest and if we could have had an unlimited number through, we would have.”

Summerfield believes the lucky visiting group will be surprised to see how far along the stadium is, in its internal fit-out process.

“We’ve had dedicated teams for some time now focusing initially on the west end and are now well through the fit-out of the food and beverage pods in the southern stands.”

He said while the external structure is highly visible for all in the city to see and monitor, few see the progression of work inside.

Another building Open Christchurch organisers expect to see strong public demand for is The Court Theatre.

Halliday said that in a “fantastic coincidence” its new home on Gloucester and Colombo streets opens the same weekend as the festival.

She said it provided a prime opportunity for both parties to work together on allowing public access to the highly anticipated project.

Halliday confirmed there will be limited behind-the-scenes tours of the building, while the foyer will be open on Sunday for people to peek inside.

Returning to the festival line-up is the Christ Church Cathedral, with some differences from its opening last year.

This time around attendees will see the historic building without scaffolding, which has been removed as the Cathedral’s restoration work has been paused due to a funding shortfall.

The Reinstatement Group has been granted a Certificate of Public Use from the Christchurch City Council for 2025, allowing short-time visits inside the stabilised building.

Inside the Christ Church Cathedral, with scaffolding now removed.

Halliday said despite progress on the site at a standstill, there is “still huge public interest in getting inside”.

She said the Open Christchurch group consistently gets messages throughout the year from those interested in gaining access.

“It’s a really iconic building in Christchurch that people are keen to connect with and learn more about”.

Dean Ben Truman said it was delighted to offer another opportunity for people to come behind the Cathedral fences.

“Visitors will hear about the history, significance, architecture, and ongoing reinstatement, which is one third complete.”

He said many younger Cantabrians “have no personal memory of the Cathedral” so the festival “provides a wonderful opportunity to welcome them, as well as a chance to revive fond memories for others”.

Bookings and further information on the festival can be provided through openchch.nz.

Blake Benny is a Christchurch-based reporter with a focus on tourism and social issues, along with general news.

He joined Newstalk ZB in 2022, having previously studied Broadcast Journalism at the New Zealand Broadcasting School.